The woman stopped at a door behind a seedy tavern and glanced around. She rapped on the door in a pattern similar to the one the small-men had used at the den, and the door opened a moment later. Rezkin stood to one side in the shadows as she spoke.

“The Slink’s new denleader wants to meet with the guildmaster,” the woman said in a forceful rush.

The guard at the door was a bit shorter than Rezkin, which was still quite tall, and built like a mercenary. He carried a dagger and a long hunting knife at his waist and wore gloves fitted with brass knobs over his knuckles. He grunted and said, “The boss didn’t assign the Slinks a new leader.”

“He won by challenge,” the woman replied with her usual smirk. “If you could call that a challenge. He didn’t seem to have any trouble from where I stood.”

“A tough guy, eh? Well, bring ’im in, and if he gives us any trouble, he’ll not be leavin’,” replied the merc.

Rezkin slipped out of the shadow, and the man’s surprise was evident. Along the way, the young warrior had acquired a plain, dark brown cloak, which now hid his features. The effect was hardly intimidating for the gruff merc since most thieves tended to hide themselves in a similar fashion, but it did provide the doorman with an image he expected to see. A quick perusal of Rezkin’s person, and the man noted the two sword hilts at Rezkin’s waist with a shake of his head. The door guard grunted and spit off to the side in derision, obviously having found Rezkin lacking.

“Draphus might see you, but don’t think you’ll be gettin’ to the Master. He ain’t got time to be meetin’ with the likes of you,” the spitwad remarked.

Rezkin kept his daggers palmed as he stalked past the doorman. He slouched a bit, bringing his height closer to the man’s level. He focused on appearing less intimidating, hoping the act would get him closer to the guildmaster before he had to start killing people. He was nearly certain there would be killing. A truly intelligent guildmaster would accept the deal Rezkin intended to offer. These were thieves, however, and the position of guildmaster tended to attract the insatiably ambitious. It was highly unlikely the man would bow to Rezkin’s demands.